Posted: March 3, 2011

Beiersdorf AG released its financial figures for 2010, which noted how the company’s group sales rose by 7.8% to €6,194 million as compared to the previous year’s €5,748 million. Organic sales rose by 3.1%, and the operating result (EBIT) excluding special factors amounted to €699 million, up from €587 million the previous year, while the corresponding EBIT margin was 11.3%. The previous year’s was 10.2%.

“In December last year, we laid key foundations for Beiersdorf’s future success by resolving to introduce a package of measures and investments. In 2011, we will be concentrating on their systematic implementation, with the focus being on Beiersdorf’s core competencies, skin and body care. As part of this, Beiersdorf is investing an additional high double-digit million amount in the Nivea brand during the latter’s centennial year. This will strengthen Nivea in the long term,” said Thomas-B. Quaas, chairman of the executive board of Beiersdorf AG.

In the consumer business segment, Beiersdorf increased its organic sales by 1.6% last year. EBIT excluding special factors amounted to €599 million (previous year: €558 million), while the corresponding EBIT margin was 11.3% (previous year: 11.1%).

The company’s three global skin care brands—Nivea in the mass market, Eucerin for dermocosmetics, and La Prairie in the luxury segment—performed positively in 2010, albeit to different degrees. Nivea achieved organic growth of 1.8% worldwide, Eucerin recorded global growth of 9.0% and La Prairie recorded a 7.5% increase in sales.

Performance in the global consumer markets differed substantially. Business in the United Kingdom and Russia did extremely well, while developments in the other European countries were mixed. The consumer segment recorded a slight decline in sales in Germany. Growth in North and Latin America was particularly strong. Sales in the Africa/Asia/Australia region were up slightly on the previous year.